Greece's Supreme Administrative Court, the Council of State, last night issued a provisional order suspending the shutdown of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT S.A.) radio and television programmes, internet websites and inactivation of its frequencies, offering a basis for the settlement of the serious dispute which broke out last week.

The same court interim order stipulates that the broadcaster known as ERT S.A has ceased to exist as a legal entity.

The provisional order on the appeal brought by ERT staff for the resumption of the state broadcaster's services, requests that the minister of Finance and the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister take all necessary measures to that effect, until the establishment and operation of the new corporation that will serve the public interest.

Earlier in the evening, PM Samaras met with coalition government partners, Evangelos Venizelos (PASOK) and Fotis Kouvelis (DIMAR), to discuss the issue, in the course of which proposals were discussed for overcoming the deadlock and overseeing the restructuring process.

According to statements by Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras at the end of the meeting, the decision of the Council of State foresees that the abolition of ERT and its Board is ratified, while a provisional programme is transmitted through a public corporation agency until the new one is set up. PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos noted that discussion focused on the policy agreement and the rules governing the operation of a tripartite government.

Commenting on the Council of State decision, he noted that no government should disrupt the operation of public broadcasting. On his part, Kouvelis said that he urged the Prime Minister to resume ERT's operations and expedite its restructuring. The three leaders agreed to continue talks concerning the public broadcaster and its restructuring tomorrow (June 19).

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble is scedulded to visit Athens in the next few days, following an invitation by his Greek counterpart Yiannis Stournaras last weekend. According to a statement issued by the German Finance Ministry, the agenda of the visit would top the implementation of a programme -similar to one already carried out in Spain- for financing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), dealing with youth unemployment, and the possible launch of a Greek investment bank.

The details of the visit will be discussed on the sidelines of the upcoming Eurogroup and ECOFIN meetings in Luxembourg. Yesterday, Schaeuble met also with Greece’s new ambassador in Berlin, Panagiotis Zografos and noted that "in Greece, the first signs of successful reforms are visible, for instance in the tourism and exports sectors," adding, however, that "right now, there are no easy choices for Greece." In a separate development, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras will travel to Berlin on July 3, to participate in the EU Youth Unemployment Summit, while he is scedulded to have a private meeting with German Chancellor Ankela Merkel.

Greek News Agenda: FinMin in Berlin

Shipping Minister Kostis Mousouroulis met with British Deputy Transport Minister for shipping issues, Stephen Hammond on June 17, in the framework of the Greek-British Shipping Forum held on June 17 in Athens, under the auspices of the British Embassy in Greece. The two ministers discussed bilater shipping cooperation, problems Greece is facing with illegal sea border crossing, as well as preparations for the upcoming Greek presidency in 2014.

Addressing the Forum, Mousouroulis referred to the significance of Greek shipping in overcoming the crisis, and stressed the importance of boosting bilateral cooperation to that effect.

Greek News Agenda: Shipping Minister in London